At this week’s Undergraduate Student Government meeting, Secretary Isobel Bowker announced that the Cycle Project, a project started by her to have free pads and tampons in womens and gender neutral bathrooms across campus, has finally completed. The project was started last year with the idea to use some money from the excess reserve fund left over from the budget allocated for student activities to provide for the cost. To start the process, Isobel had to submit a proposal to use the fund, which she also included a detailed statistics sheet that she had compiled based on student enrollment to show which buildings would need more than others. When asked about why she felt it worth it to go through all this effort, Isobel said, “It can be really intimidating to be a woman or female presenting, and these free products can make you feel more welcome and accepting, especially when including gender neutral spaces.”
After getting approval, Isobel and the rest of the USG worked with maintenance to oversee that all the installations went in. “After the approval process, the installations went smoothly, and the maintenance team was even willing to install the dispenser at no extra charge,” commented Isobel. As of this week nearly every women’s and gender neutral restroom now has a completely free dispenser for menstrual pads and tampons installed. If you wish to learn more about the project and the impacts she hopes it will have you can contact Isobel directly through her email ibowker@mtu.edu or to learn more about other USG affairs, you are free to attend their meetings every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge in the Memorial Union Building.
